Person of the Year: Ron Paul

People often mistake being named Time‘s “Person of the Year” as an honor, but that men as sinister as Adolph Hitler, Josef Stalin and Rudy Giuliani have all been given the title suggests otherwise. According to Time, the award is primarily a recognition of influence and by that measure the 2009 selection of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke makes sense. Explains Time, the Fed is “an independent government agency that conducts monetary policy, which means it sets short-term interest rates – which means it has immense influence over inflation, unemployment, the strength of the dollar and the strength of your wallet.” Powerful and influential indeed.

But using Time‘s reasoning, the same award could have been given to Alan Greenspan, Paul Volcker or any other chairman in the history of the Fed. It is amusing that if simply being in charge of the powerful institution warrants such recognition, a Fed Chairman has now received it during a time of serious economic downturn and Bernanke likely won the award because his celebrity had been elevated due to the economy going south. It’s sort of like giving special recognition to Tiger Woods for making so many headlines recently, while ignoring that it is his personal recklessness and infidelity that has contributed most to his career and marriage going south.

So instead of giving props to Fed chairman who’ve screwed up the economy, why not praise someone who’s spent his entire career opposing the central bank, not to mention being ahead of the curve-often alone–on some of the most pressing political issues of our day? In terms of elevated profile and increased influence, it’s hard to imagine a better candidate worth recognizing as “Person of the Year” than Texas Congressman Ron Paul.

For starters, Paul agrees with Time that Bernanke should be “Person of the Year,” because he truly is “the most powerful man in the world.” Paul notes that Bernanke can “create a trillion dollars in secret without any monitoring of the Congress, so there’s no transparency, and I think he’s more powerful than the president.” And yet for years, decades even, Paul was virtually alone on Capitol Hill in calling to rein in the Fed. Today, the once “extreme” notion of auditing the Federal Reserve has become mainstream amongst Republicans and more than a few Democrats, due in no-small-part to Paul’s lead. Reports the Houston Chronicle:

“As odd as it may seem, (Paul) has become one of the most influential Republicans in a capital city dominated by liberal Democrats… The subject that has brought him to prominence is the same issue that subjected him to ridicule from establishment Republicans for years: his long-standing opposition to the nation’s monetary system and the Federal Reserve Board that prints money and controls its supply. ‘On economic matters, he was seen as a way outside the mainstream,’ University of Houston political scientist Richard Murray said. ‘His views were somewhat 19th century in the view of a lot of economists.’ Well, they say history repeats itself, and suddenly Paul’s “19th-century” thinking seems appealing to those suffering through the first economic meltdown of the 21st century.”

While many now embrace Paul’s “fringe” thinking on the Fed, many Americans have also migrated closer to the Congressman’s thinking on foreign policy. When during the George W. Bush years, the Republican Party exchanged its traditional limited government rhetoric to advocate for war, Paul vocally opposed nation building in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq, ventures he believed were unjustified, unwinnable and too costly. When running for president in 2008, many saw Paul as simply the antiwar Republican, a seemingly oddball position at the time, particularly amongst a field of GOP candidates whose platforms consisted mainly of trying to outdo each other in their enthusiasm for war.

And yet as Obama continues with an almost identical foreign policy agenda as Bush, polls show that many Americans-including many Republicans-are now war weary and skeptical as to what the US endgame might be in the Middle East. Many are realizing there probably is no real “end” or no true “victory” in Afghanistan or Iraq. And many now realize that Paul had been right all along.

Given the anxiety over economic downturn and costly military overstretch, it is not farfetched to say that popular American opinion is likely now closer to Paul’s thinking on those two major issues than that of either major party nominee for president in 2008 and particularly President Obama, whose poll numbers continue to plummet. Says the Houston Chronicle “it’s not that Paul has gone mainstream. Rather, the mainstream has gone Paul-ite.”

Not bad for a guy who just two years ago was considered persona non grata by his own party. And not bad for a man who continues to change hearts and minds, not because of any grand strategy or particular political savvy, but mostly because against overwhelming odds–he’s refused to change one bit.

Dr Paul will be Time’s Man of the Year when he is elected Speaker of the House! and he leads the Republic out of its morass of unconstitutional regulations, special-interests’ laws and constitutionally aberrant amendments. The Tea Party hopefully will organise a greater-than-grass-roots ability to elect constitutionalists – whether repubs, dems, indies, conservs or libs – to fill House seats who, because of a lack of a majority by either the Rep’s or Dem’s, will have to form a coalition to govern. And therefore, elected Dr Paul as Speaker. Now that would be “progress”. The explosion of laughter you hear is really the reverberations of money bombs inspired by the idea of having Dr Paul become Speaker of the House. 🙂

If Time magazine were a true reflection of a person who represents the very best of mankind, Dr. Ron Paul would be a front-runner for that award. Unfortunately, Time has lost their credibility over the years, and the yearly awards bring only a realization of ever-decreasing confidence in both politicians and the main stream media. God bless Ron Paul for all he is doing to win back our Republic.

The sad thing is that so many, many people in this country get 95% to 100% of their so-called knowledge about politics and the economy from watching their favorite leftwing / rightwing newscasters on the BigScreen DopeTube on a daily basis. NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING could be a more misleading and harmful source of information than the “daily news” — on any channel, ABC, msNBC, CBS or FOX. The biggest part of the “daily news” is either pushing a leftwing agenda or a rightwing agenda. The news is driven, not by a desire to tell the truth, but by a desire to get emotional reactions from people and therefore ratings and therefore big profits, and to Hell with the truth. An honest and accurate understanding of a politically driven economy can only be got from diligent study of the subject in your local libraries, if you really want to know. 95% of the so called experts on the subject of economics and politics seen on TV have never read John Maynes Keynes or Ludwig Von Mises, nor even know about or understand their similarities and differences. People come home, grab a super-size soda, a big cheese pizza and plop down in front of the bigscreen DopeTube and then permit themselves to be repeatedly brainwashed with the same old propanganda that the conniving media and the self-serving politicians have been palming off on us for the last 40 years. TURN OFF THE DOPETUBE and get yourself to your local library and study (diligently) these subjects before offering an opinion. 95% of all opinions in these forums obviously come from watching a favorite television newcaster personality.
Turn off the DopeTube and begin a serious study of these subjects in your library, if you do have the money to buy the books yourself. Diligently study these subjects and you will some learn that Ron Paul is telling you the truth!

I agree completely. “The most powerful man in the world” has virtually absolute power and therefore must be absolutely corrupt. I don’t understand how people have not realized this.
Ron Paul must be the most persistant and patient man on this planet to be fighting a battle that is virtually unwinnable, much like the middle east. He has the greatest intentions, the biggest heart and the most brilliant mind af any government official. Ron Paul has more support for his cause than ever and he is more optimistic and enthusiastic about it than I have ever seen.
Unfortunately, with the masses reading articles like the one printed in “Time” and a power as great as the “Federal” reserve, victory for Paul is still a ways away. Fortunately you and I have a platform such as this. I hope the people realize the situation and something can be done before the collapse of the dollar. Sound money leads to sound growth.

Congressman Ron Paul is a shining beacon in the morass called Congress.
And thank you to Mr. Hunter for his article recognizing that Ron Paul is the true man of the year–in fact, of this decade or maybe this century.
(Ron Paul is the only Republican I would vote for President.)

Man of the year? Please. Ron Paul is a racist and an Anti-Semite. So, is his son. In case, you all ain’t heard. His Son Rand’s Campaign spokes person abruptly quit on Friday, after a Myspace page was found of his, with all sorts of filthy racism on it.

Kinda like his daddy, check out these tasty bits from Ron Paul’s Newsletters, that were SUPPOSEDLY written by him:

Race

“A Special Issue on Racial Terrorism” analyzes the Los Angeles riots of 1992: “Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks three days after rioting began. … What if the checks had never arrived? No doubt the blacks would have fully privatized the welfare state through continued looting. But they were paid off and the violence subsided.”

The November 1990 issue of the Political Report had kind words for David Duke.

This newsletter describes Martin Luther King Jr. as “a world-class adulterer” who “seduced underage girls and boys” and “replaced the evil of forced segregation with the evil of forced integration.”

The January 1991 edition of the Political Report refers to King as a “world-class philanderer who beat up his paramours” and a “flagrant plagiarist with a phony doctorate.”

A February 1991 newsletter attacks “The X-Rated Martin Luther King.”

An October 1990 edition of the Political Report ridicules black activists, led by Al Sharpton, for demonstrating at the Statue of Liberty in favor of renaming New York City after Martin Luther King. The newsletter suggests that “Welfaria,” “Zooville,” “Rapetown,” “Dirtburg,” and “Lazyopolis” would be better alternatives–and says, “Next time, hold that demonstration at a food stamp bureau or a crack house.”

Gays

In the course of defending homophobic comments by Andy Rooney of CBS, a 1990 newsletter notes that a reporter for a gay magazine “certainly had an axe to grind, and that’s not easy with a limp wrist.”

The June 1990 issue of the Political Report says: “I miss the closet. Homosexuals, not to speak of the rest of society, were far better off when social pressure forced them to hide their activities.”

From the August 1990 issue of the Political Report: “Bring Back the Closet!”

A January 1994 edition of the Survival Report states that “gays in San Francisco do not obey the dictates of good sense,” adding: “[T]hese men don’t really see a reason to live past their fifties. They are not married, they have no children, and their lives are centered on new sexual partners.” Also, “they enjoy the attention and pity that comes with being sick.”

Survivalism and Militias

The November 1994 issue of the Survival Report celebrates anti-government militias.

The January 1995 issue of the Survival Report–released just three months before the Oklahoma City bombing–cites an anti-government militia’s advice to other militias, including, “Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”

The October 1992 issue of the Political Report paraphrases an “ex-cop” who offers this strategy for protecting against “urban youth”: “If you have to use a gun on a youth, you should leave the scene immediately, disposing of the wiped off gun as soon as possible. Such a gun cannot, of course, be registered to you, but one bought privately (through the classifieds, for example).”

Conspiracies

This 1978 newsletter says the Trilateral Commission is “no longer known only by those who are knowledgeable about international conspiracies, but is routinely mentioned in the daily news.”

A 1986 newsletter names Jeane Kirkpatrick and George Will as “two of our enemies” and notes their membership in the Trilateral Commission.

In an undated solicitation letter for The Ron Paul Investment Letter and the Ron Paul Political Report, Paul writes: “I’ve been told not to talk, but these stooges don’t scare me. Threats or no threats, I’ve laid bare the coming race war in our big cities. The federal-homosexual cover-up on AIDS (my training as a physician helps me see through this one.) The Bohemian Grove–perverted, pagan playground of the powerful. Skull & Bones: the demonic fraternity that includes George Bush and leftist Senator John Kerry, Congress’s Mr. New Money. The Israeli lobby, which plays Congress like a cheap harmonica.”

Middle East

A 1989 newsletter compares Salman Rushdie to Ernst Zundel, a Canadian Holocaust-denier.

Other Documents: Paul has had a long association with the Ludwig von Mises Institute, a libertarian think tank based in Auburn, Alabama. The think tank was founded by Lew Rockwell, who served as Paul’s congressional chief of staff from 1978 to 1982.

This March 1995 letter from Lew Rockwell advertises the Mises Institute’s upcoming conference on secession (at which Paul spoke): “We’ll explore what causes [secession] and how to promote it.”

An advertisement for the Mises Institute’s 1995 secession conference–to be held in Charleston, “hotbed of America’s two great secessions, against Britain and D.C.”

Race

In an article entitled “The Coming Race War,” The Ron Paul Political Report refers to the “pro-communist philanderer Martin Luther King” and refers to his “non-violent approach” as “(i.e., state violence).” The newsletter advises that, “if there is any issue the Republicans have in their favor for the next presidential election, it is the question of race. It was all over for Michael Dukakis when Jesse Jackson gave his awful prime-time speech at the last Democratic convention, and the cameras focused on masses of teary-eyed, left-wing blacks.”

A May 1990 issue of the Ron Paul Political Report cites Jared Taylor, who six months later would go onto found the eugenicist and white supremacist periodical American Renaissance. The May 1991 issue of the Ron Paul Political Report cites American Renaissance and offers readers subscription information for it.

The January 1993 issue of the Survival Report worries about America’s “disappearing white majority”

The July 1992 Ron Paul Political Report declares, “Jury verdicts, basketball games, and even music are enough to set off black rage, it seems,” and defends David Duke. The author of the newsletter–presumably Paul–writes, “My youngest son is starting his fourth year in medical school. He tells me there would be no way to persuade his fellow students of the case for economic liberty.”

The December 1989 Ron Paul Political Report contains entries on a “new form of racial terrorism,” cites former Congressman Bill Dannemeyer’s claim that “the average homosexual has 1,000 or more partners in a lifetime,” and quotes Lew Rockwell, president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, in the third person.

In January 1990, the Ron Paul Political Report cites “a well-known libertarian editor” who “told me: ‘The ACT-UP slogan on stickers plastered all over Manhattan is ‘Silence=Death.’ But shouldn’t it be Sodomy = Death’?”

The July 1991 Ron Paul Political Report defends homophobic remarks made by Tom Clancy, and cites Clancy saying, “I live in a free country, and if people want to have their anuses used in that way, while I find it unsavory, I do not arrogate to myself the right to prevent them from doing so.”

The September 1994 issue of the Ron Paul Survival Report states that “those who don’t commit sodomy, who don’t get blood a transfusion, and who don’t swap needles, are virtually assured of not getting AIDS unless they are deliberately infected by a malicious gay.”

Anti-Government Paranoia/Conspiracy Theories/Survivalism

A fundraising letter from Paul’s 1984 Senate campaign in which Paul complains about the “minions of Kissinger and Rockefeller” and “the big New York banks, and their pals in Texas” who “want me silenced.”

The January 1988 Ron Paul Political Report approvingly cites Dr. William C. Douglass, who “believes that AIDS is a deliberately engineered hybrid” developed at a World Health Organization experiment conducted at Ft. Detrick. Douglass has long been a fringe medical guru, and today claims that “smoking can help you live longer!!!”

The November 1989 Ron Paul Political Report reports on the Bohemian Grove and Ronald Reagan’s “old Trilateralist agenda item of four-year terms for Congressmen.”

This 1993 Ron Paul Strategy Guide entitled, “How to Protect Yourself from Urban Violence” is a special supplement the Ron Paul Survival Report.In the April 1993 Ron Paul Survival Report, the author–writing in the first person–states, “Whether [the 1993 World Trade Center bombing] was a setup by the Israeli Mossad, as a Jewish friend of mine suspects, or was truly a retaliation by the Islamic fundamentalists, matters little.” The newsletters also warns readers to “do your very best to keep your family away from inner cities. If you can’t, have a haven remote from the metropolitan areas.”

The May 1995 issue of the Ron Paul Survival Report warns of “The Trilateralist Alan Greenspan” and its author writes, “Now that my five children are grown and educated, I’ve listened to the many supporters who’ve urged me to return to office. I can now give up my medical practice, and dedicate every fiber of my being to saving our country.” The newsletter also contains an advertisement for the Ron Paul congressional exploratory committee.

The September 1995 issue of the Ron Paul Survival Report asks about “Black Helicopters?”

The June 1996 issue of the Ron Paul Survival Report refers to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms officers as “Jackbooted Thugs.”

Jews

The November 1992 Ron Paul Survival Report defends chess champion and Holocaust-denier Bobby Fischer, saying that “the brilliant Fischer, who has all the makings of an American hero, is very politically incorrect on Jewish questions, for which he will never be forgiven, even though he is a Jew. Thus we are not supposed to herald him as the world’s greatest chess player.”

Pat Buchanan

In January 1992, Paul writes about his consideration of a presidential bid which he dashed after Pat Buchanan expressed his intention to run. Paul wrote of “the essential compatibility between [Buchanan’s] ideas and mine” and “agreed to serve as the chairman of his economic advisory committee.”A 1992 issue of the Rothbard-Rockwell-Report tells of Paul’s decision to defer to Pat Buchanan in the 1992 Republican presidential primary.Newsletter Authorship

The masthead of March 1987 Ron Paul Investment Letter lists “the Hon. Ron Paul” as “Editor and Publisher” and “Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.” as one of several contributing editors.

An undated personal solicitation letter–signed by Paul–asking the recipient to subscribe to his newsletter in anticipation of (presumably) the 1988 Libertarian Party Presidential nominating convention.

The April 1988 Ron Paul Investment Letter lists Paul as Editor.

The May 1988 Ron Paul Investment Letter lists Lew Rockwell as Editor. It also advertises books by the far-right conspiracy theorist Gary Allen, who was a contributing editor to the Ron Paul Investment Letter.

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Like Father, Like Son.

Person of the year, don’t make me laugh. Now watch the editors remove this comment, like the racist, Anti-Semite cowards that they are.

Mainstream Democrats take your tax dollars and waste it on worthless public works programs. Mainstream Republicans take your tax dollars and give it to Israel. Ron Paul doesn’t want your tax dollars. But if you so much as oblige, then you know they will come straight back to you. End the Fed. End the Wars. Congress should stop worrying about the Mid East, and start worrying about the Mid West. Ron Paul for America.

It’s been a while since I saw a Democratic-backed public works project beyond maybe road renovation. I wouldn’t mind if they did (since it produces something tangible, it is not comparable to giving money and weapons to Israel), but they don’t….

Although I consider myself to be a Green lefty I also respect Ron Paul more than just about any American politician for his principled Constitutionally based opposition to foreign interventionism, his opposition to the reverse Robinhood TARP bailout, and his opposition to the bankster run Federal Reserve. Know there are many of us out here on the left who respect and admire Dr, Paul and who would vote for him for President in 2012 despite perhaps some disagreements on relatively minor issues like abortion, the virtues of unregulated capitalism, etc. As another article here wisely discussed we have allowed ourselves to be divided and distracted by “cultural issues” for too long, it’s time to put America back on track towards fixing our own problems FIRST and for Greens and paleos to join together to start to build the “front porch republic,” as an alternative to the tired dogmas of centralism, bankster based financial fraud, and empire.